Subway will remove additive found in plastics from its bread after blogger’s online petition

Blogger Vani Hari started an online petition for Subway to remove the food additive azodicarbonamide from its sandwich bread. (Vani Hari)

A crusading blogger has compelled Subway to remove a chemical additive from its sandwich bread.

Vani Hari, who blogs under the handle "Food Babe," started an online petition Tuesday demanding the fast-food giant stop using azodicarbonamide in its bread after she discovered it is also used in yoga mats, shoe soles and synthetic leather.

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In just 24 hours, Hari's petition, titled "Subway: Stop Using Dangerous Chemicals In Your Bread," garnered more than 50,000 signatures. The chain also received a firestorm of comments on its Facebook page.

The Charlotte-based blogger — who also successfully petitioned Kraft to remove artificial dyes from some of its mac and cheese — told the Daily News she started researching Subway's ingredients list in 2012, but her attempts to contact company executives about azodicarbonamide went unanswered until Wednesday.

"They finally reached out to me and told me they're sorry for not getting back sooner and they're planning on removing that ingredient soon," Hari said.

As a food additive, azodicarbonamide is used as a flour-bleaching agent and to make dough rise faster. It is also used in the rubber and plastics industries as a "blowing agent" that gives synthetic yoga mats and other products a foamy quality.

In a 1999 report, the World Health Organization linked azodicarbonamide exposure to asthma, allergies and skin sensitization based on evidence from case reports and epidemiological studies. Other effects on the human body, including as a carcinogen, "have not been studied," the report notes. The ingredient is banned in Europe and Australia.

The Food and Drug Administration approves the use of azodicarbonamide in food as "an aging and bleaching ingredient" and dough conditioner in quantities less than 2.05 grams per 100 pounds of flour, or 45 parts per million.

The FDA is currently collecting data on the use of azodicarbonamide in bread, an agency official told ABCNews.com.

In a statement, Subway said the ingredient would be out of bread "soon."

"We are already in the process of removing azodicarbonamide as part of our bread improvement efforts despite the fact that it is a USDA and FDA approved ingredient," the statement read.

Subway has burnished its image as a healthier fast-food option for nearly two decades through spokespeople such as weight-loss success story Jared Fogle, and Olympic athletes Michael Phelps and Apolo Ono.

Last month it gained another high-profile supporter in First Lady Michelle Obama, who visited a Subway near the White House to announce the chain's new kids' menu, which is being tailored to meet federal school lunch standards.

Hari said she feels the chain's marketing has "duped" consumers.

"Subway basically has this marketing of 'Eat Fresh' and an American Heart Association stamp all over their menu items. They talk about how low-calorie it is," Hari said.

"I was under the illusion it was fresh and was healthy, but what I found was absolutely horrific."

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Hari said Subway execs still haven't answered her questions about how much of the ingredient is in the bread.

"I want to really urge people not to eat there until they take it out," she said. "This is a really concerning chemical in our food. We should not be eating plastic."